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GOVERNOR JOSEPH RITNER 



Historical Address 
Edward Wl^Biddle 



Read before the Hamilton Library Association, Carlisle, Pa., 
on Friday Evening, October 17, 1919 




1919 



^ 






GOVERNOR JOSEPH RITNER 



Historical Address 

-By- 
Edward W. Biddle 



Read before the Hamilton Library Association, Carlisle, Pa., 
on Friday Evening, October 17, 1919 



On July 18, 1901, the leg- 
islature of Pennsylvania 
appropriated the sum of 
three thousand dollars "for 
the purpose of erecting a 
marker for the grave of 
Governor Joseph Ritner in 
the churchyard of Mount 
Rock, Cumberland County." 
A commission consisting of 
the Governor of the State, 
the Judge of this county 
and the Senator from this 
district, was appointed to 
carry out the terms of the 
act, with the result that in 
the fall of the following 
year a handsome granite 
monument adorned with a 
bronze bust and inscribed 
tablet was erected at the 
proper spot. The dedica- 
tion took place on the after- 
noon of October 15, 1902, and on that occasion it was my 
privilege to make an address which with some modifications 
constitutes the present paper. 




MONUMENT AT THE GRAVE OF 

GOVERNOR JOSEPH RITNER 

SEVEN MILES WEST OF CARLISLE 



Born of an humble German family in Berks county on 
March 25, 1780, while this country was in the throes of rev- 
olution, Joseph Ritner never had the advantage of school 
training except for a few months when he was a stripling 
six years old. As his parents were comparatively unfa- 
miliar with the English tongue he was first taught to speak 
and read in German, and to the day of his death his pro- 
nunciation had a decided foreign accent. After partially 
learning the trade of weaver which was the vocation of his 
father, he came to this county at the age of sixteen and ob- 
tained employment as a laborer on the farm of Jacob Myers, 
near Newville, receiving the first year for his services the 
sum of $80 and in subsequent years $120, the lattei' being 
the highest wages paid at that time. 

In 1802 he was married to Susannah Alter, daughter of 
a well-to-do farmer in the neighborhood, and by laboring in 
the field when occupation could be had there, and at other 
times working at the loom, he saved money enough to enable 
him to buy a pair of horses and a wagon . In the fall of 
1805 he placed upon the wagon his wife and two children 
and his household goods and migrated across the mountains 
to the farm of his wife's brother, David Alter, situated in 
Plum township, Allegheny county. Fortunately this broth- 
er owned a number of books, mainly in the German lan- 
guage, and into these the young man delved with persistent 
purpose, thus laying the foundation of his future promi- 
nence. In 1809 he remo ed to a tract of land in Buffalo 
township, Washington county, containing 150 acres, which 
he had purchased for $1300 payable in five installments. 
When he acquired possession of the tract only 25 acres were 
ready for the plough, the log cabin of the former owner was 
too small for occupancy by his family, and there was no 
barn and but little fencing on the property. 

Before taking his wife and children there he built a log- 
house for their accommodation, and in later years erected a 
substantial residence with front of cut stone, also a spacious 
barn, planted orchards and otherwise highly improved the 
premises. Upon this homestead, which had been carved 
by his own toil out of the wilderness, he and his family con- 
tinued to reside until after his election to the highest office 
in the Commonwealth . By the sweat of his brow he earned 
his daily bread, personally cultivating the land and harvest- 
ing the crops, and in dull seasons using his teams to haul 
merchandise to the eastern cities and to bring back goods 
which were needed on the farm. The scythe and the flail 
were but as toys in his muscular grasp, and many of the na- 
tive giants of the forest fell before the powerful strokes of 



Gift 

fiuthor 
OCT 2Q mu 



his axe. The flock of sheep which browsed through the 
clearings furnished the wool for the family's homespun 
clothing, the silk worms in the cocoonery yielded a finer 
thread, the neighboring maple trees gave up in the spring 
an ample supply of sugar, and the good housewife and chil- 
dren were industrious, all contributing in their respective 
spheres to the common weal. 

Did not happiness dwell at his fireside? May we not 
apply to his home life the sentiment which appears in a 
beautiful verse of Tom Moore, written after his visit to 
America? 

"I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled 
Above the green elms, that a cottage was near, 

And I said, 'If there's peace to be found In the world, 
A heart that was humble/hone for it here.' " 

A school house was early^located on the farm, in which 
most of his ten children received their education and some 
of his sons oificiated as teachers. In September, 1812, h^^ 
enlisted in the army as a private and served for seven 
month through the ensuing winter campaign, his health be- 
ing considerably impaired by its hardships. 

His ability and excellent character having gradually 
been recognized by the people, he was elected a member of 
the house of representatives for six successive terms begin- 
ning December, 1820, and during the last two terms of said 
period he occupied the position of Speaker . In 1829 and in 
1832 he was nominated by the Anti-masons for Governor 
against George Wolf, a Democrat, but was defeated in the 
former year by 16,443 votes and in the latter by 3,170. 
Prior to 1829 he had been a steadfast Democrat and as such 
had been sent to the legislature, but upon the formation of 
the new party which selected him as its original standard 
bearer he allied himself with it and afterwards became a 
Whig and then a Republican . It is worthy of note that hiij 
first nomination was entirely unexpected and that he was 
working in the harvest field when informed of it . This re- 
calls the legend of Cincinnatus, who is said to have been 
plowing on his small farm at the time swift messengers 
brought to him the intelligence that he had been chosen 
dictator of Rome. In 183^5 Mr, Ritner was again placed 
at the head of the Anti-mason ticket, and by reason of a de- 
fection in the opposite party which resulted in the nomina- 
tion of two Democratic candidates was elected by a plural- 
ity of 28,219 and took his seat as Governor on December 
15th of that year. The silk gloves and stockings which he 



wore at the inauguration were wrought by the skilled handi- 
work of his wife from the product of his own silk worms and 
mulberry trees . 

His annual message to the general assembly on De- 
cember 6, 1836, contained such a pointed reference to slav- 
ery that it made him famous throughout the land, and drew 
forth from Whittier the ringing lyric entitled "Ritner". 
After historically reviewing the advanced policy which 
Pennsylvania had pursued since 1780 in favor of abolishing 
the cruel traffic in human beings, he said : 

"These tenets, then, viz: Opposition to slavery at home, 
viThich by the blessing of Providence has been rendered effectu- 
al; opposition to the admission into the Union of new slave- 
holding states; and opposition to slavery in the District of Col- 
umbia, the very hearth and domestic abode of the national 
honor, have ever been and are the cherished doctrines of our 
State. Let us. Fellow Citizens, stand by and maintain them 
unshrinkingly and fearlessly.'" 

The following is the first stanza of the Quaker poet's 
lyric which commemorated Ritner's brave words: 

"Thank God for the token! one lip is still free, 

One spirit untrammelled, unbending one knee! 
Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and firm. 
Erect, when the multitude bends to the storm; 
When traitors to Freedom, and Honor, and God, 

Are bowed at an Idol polluted with blood; 
When the recreant >'^rth has forgotten her trust, 

And the lip of her honor is low in the dust, — 
Thank God, that one arm from the shackle has broken! 

Thank God, that one man as a freeman has spoken!" 

In the month of January, 1837, Whittier had gone to 
Harrisburg to attend an anti-slavery convention and while 
there met Governor Ritner. The above poem was writ- 
ten immediately after his return to Boston and in the later 
editions of his works is preceded by this explanatory note 
prepared by himself: 

■'Written on reading the message of Governor Ritner, of 
Pennsylvania, 1836. The fact redounds to the credit and 
serves to perpetuate the memory of the independent farmer 
and high-souled statesman, that he alone of all the Governors 
of the Union in 1836 met the insulting demands and menaces 
of the South in a manner becoming a freeman and hater of 
slavery, in his message to the legislature of Pennsylvania." 

Whittier and a companion were appointed by the Amer- 
ican Anti-Slavery Society in the summer of 1839 to travel 
through Pennsylvania and employ speakers to awaken the 
conscience of the nation in regard to slavery. It is to us 



a matter of interest that on the afternoon of July 8, 1839, 
they came to Carlisle from Harrisburg, stayed all night at 
the house of a man named McKim, and on the next morning 
drove out to Ritner's farm near Mount Rock and spent an 
hour and a half with him . They then returned to Carlisle 
and later in the day continued on their journey to other 
points . 

The message of December, 1836, also embodied the 
Governor's views on other public questions which were then 
being much discussed . In it he called upon the legislature 
to repress secret societies because of their evil tendencies 
and demoralizing effect upon the people; also to check the 
growing spirit of speculation in stocks and land by refusing 
to create any new corporations except upon the most certain 
proof of their necessity, and of the accomplishment of the 
proposed object beyond the power of individual enterprise. 
He gave it as his opinion that the unnecessary formation of 
artificial bodies serves to foster and perpetuate the thirst 
for gain without labor; unduly increases profit and de- 
creases risk, thereby paralyzing individual effort; takes 
away responsibility, both moral and pecuniary, except to the 
small extent of actual investment; multiplies influence and 
aids deception ; and finally, begets confusion and panic in so- 
ciety . 

On June 13, 1836, an act of assembly had been passed 
consolidating and amending the common schools laws . This 
matter was near to the Covenior's heart; hence in his mes- 
sage he drew attention to the condition of the schools and 
recommended the permanent annual addition of $100,000 to 
the ordinary appropriation of $200,000. 'The best inter- 
ests of the Commonwealth", he said, "are at stake upon the 
experiment of common schools. All the energies of the 
State should be applied to it until success be achieved, or 
until the system be clearly proved contrary to the public will 
and incapable of producing the desired result . " 

In his last annual message bearing date December 27, 
1838, he joyously furnished the following data indicating 
the very flourishing condition of general education under the 
recently enacted laws : 

"Instead of 762 common schools in operation at the end of 
the year 1835, and about 17 academies (the latter in a state of 
almost doubtful existence), with no female seminaries fostered 
by the State, she has now 5,000 common schools, 38 academies 
and 7 female seminaries in active and permanent operation, 
disseminating the principles of literature, science and virtue 
over the land. In addition to these, there are many schools, 
academies and female seminaries of a private character, 
equally useful and deserving in their proper sphere." 



It is well known that subsequently he regarded the 
development of the common school system as the most im- 
portant work of his administration. Thomas H. Burrowes, 
ex officio superintendent of common schools, in a report to 
the legislature in December, 1838, spoke thus concerning the 
value of his efforts: 

"When the agitatmg divisions of the day shall have sunk 
into comparative insignificance, and names be only repeated 
in connection with some great act of public benefaction, those 
of George Wolf and Joseph Ritner will be classed by Pennsyl- 
vania among the noblest on her long list; the one for his early 
and manly advocacy, and the other for his well-timed and de- 
termined support, of the free school." 

In the summer of 1838 he had been nominated by the 
Anti-masons a fourth consecutive time for Governor, thus 
breaking all records before or since except that of Governor 
Simon Snyder, but David R. Porter defeated him by a ma- 
jority of 5,504. Whilst the movement which carried him 
into office three years before was still strong, yet his ex- 
tremely hostile attitude toward slavery had aroused a bitter 
feeling against him among the slaveholders of the South and 
their northern sympathizers, and no effort was spared to se- 
cure his downfall. National issues were injected into the 
exciting campaign, and by this method sufficient votes were 
changed to secure his opponent's election . The returns 
upon their face gave to Mr. Porter a majority of several 
thousand votes, but the ^^-"ends of Governor Ritner claimed 
that a number of the returns were fraudulent and that a 
correct count would insure his election, wherefore they ad- 
vised that the figures be ignored until they had been investi- 
gated. On October 15th the Anti-mason state-chairman 
issued a manifesto to his adherents in which he said : 

"The opponent for the office of Governor appears to be 
elected by at least 5,000 of a majority. This is an event to 
which, if it had been fairly produced, we as good citizens would 
quietly, if not cheerfully, submit. But there is such a strong 
probat)ly of malpractice and fraud in the whole transaction 
that it is our duty peacefully to resist it and fully to expose 
it." And again: "IJntil this investigation be fully made and 
fairly determined, let us treat the election of the 9th instant as 
if we had not been defeated and in that attitude abide the re- 
sult." 

The stormy scenes which followed are without parallel 
in the official life of this State. Upon the convening of 
the general assembly on the first Tuesday of December, a 
fierce struggle for control ensued when the contesting 
claimants to membership appeared. In the house of rep- 
resentatives each party elected a speaker and both of these 



officers took seats upon the platform . The upshot of the 
contention was that a crowd of poUticians and their backers, 
coming principally from Philadelphia, forced themselves in- 
to the legislative chambers and became so noisy and violent 
that both branches of the assembly hastily adjourned, some 
of the members escaping through the windows . The busi- 
ness of the Commonwealth was absolutely suspended for 
several days, and the Governor ordered out a portion of the 
militia with instructions to march at once to Harrisburg 
and likewise called upon the federal government for assist- 
ance. Major Generals Robert Patterson and Samuel Alex- 
ander, the latter a practicing lawyer of Carlisle, proceeded 
to the seat of war with about a thousand militiamen, but 
President Van Buren refused to interfere . The real cause 
of this refusal was that the intrepid Chief Executive of the 
Keystone State did not stand in favor with the Democratic 
officials at the national capital, and they foresaw that the 
protecting presence of the United States soldiers at Harris- 
burg might result in his continuance in office for another 
term . He subsequently complained bitterly of the partisan 
and insulting reception which had been accorded to his re- 
quest for aid, his feelings in the matter having been intensi- 
fied by the incessant attacks of a hostile press . 

After the turbulence had continued for nearly three 
weeks the senate voted to recognize the Democratic organi- 
zation of the house, and what has since been famous as the 
"Buekshot War" came to a termination. Said appellation 
owed its origin to the circumstance that a number of the 
cartridges supplied to the troops from the arsenal contained 
buckshot instead of bullets. Governor Ritner in his mes- 
sage later in the month ascribed the whole difficulty to the 
assumption of power by some of the return judges to reject 
the vote of a district, or part of a district, instead of confin- 
ing themselves to the merely clerical duty of adding up and 
certifying the number of votes which were actually cast . 

On January 15, 1839, the Governor returned to private 
life, and in the spring took up his residence on a farm in 
West Pennsboro township, the deed for which was executed 
to him by the Carlisle Bank on April 8th . The tract con- 
tained 278 acres and the consideration mentioned in the in- 
strument was $12,510, of which he paid $7,000 in cash and 
gave a mortgage to the bank for the remaining $5,510, the 
cash payment doubtless being realized from the sale of his 
Washington county property. This inference is supported 
by the averment in a friendly political pamphlet, issued in 
1838, that the Washington county farm with its stor^k when 
he left it to assume the governorship was worth $7,000 and 
constituted the whole of his fortune . 



In the following year he was afflicted with cataracts 
in both eyes which for a time made him totally blind . An 
operation on his right eye entirely restored its sight and en- 
abled him to read without difficulty, yet the cutting caused 
so much pain that he refused to have it repeated on the oth- 
er one which consequently remained sightless thereafter. 
In 1848 he served for a short time as director of the Phila- 
delphia mint under an appointment by President Taylor; 
but the President died before the appointment was con- 
firmed by the senate and his successor named another person 
for the place . He was a delegate in 1856 to the convention 
of the newly formed Republican party which nominated 
John C. Fremont for President, and always continued to 
manifest an active interest in politics . He also remained 
a warmi friend of the common schools, which he had fos- 
tered in their infancy, and for many years his venerable 
form was a familiar sight at the annual meetings of the 
teachers' institute in this county. 

After enjoying a peaceful and honored old age he died 
at the home of his son Jacob in South Middleton township 
on October 16, 1869, bowed down by the infirmities of near- 
ly fourscore years and ten . No other Governor of Penn- 
sylvania has ever reached such an advanced age, no other 
has shown throughout his life more individuality and ear- 
nestness of character . 

It is hard to speak too highly of Joseph Ritner. Despite 
the early drawbacks of po-^erty and lack of education he rose 
because nature had implanted in him the seeds of suc- 
cess — consisting in his case of a superior and well-balanced 
mind, an upright moral character, powerful convictions 
coupled with firm resolve, industry, perseverance and cour- 
age . In person he was stout and somewhat above the me- 
dium height, with a large head and broad chest, dark eyes 
and swarthy complexion . Many years of manual labor 
had developed a naturally strong physique, and had invested 
him with a stock of surplus health which was never drawn 
upon to repair the ravages of dissipation . It was but an 
incident of his temperate habits and powder of self control 
that he did not indulge in either spirituous drink or tobacco, 
and was not diverted at any time into a luxurious style of 
living. 

The massive head and strong face, so well shown by his 
portrait in the capitol at Harrisburg, indicate that he was 
possessed of much more than ordinary ability. His mes- 
sages were well and clearly expressed, and conveyed the 
views of a broad-gauge, thoughtful man upon matters that 
were then deemed of paramount moment. In "Old Time 



Notes of Pennsylvania" by Colonel A. K. McClure, who had 
an intimate acquaintance with Ritner for many years, the 
author says of him : 

"He was a man of very general intelligence, unusually 
familiar with all public questions, and was a delightful conver- 
sationalist. His rugged honesty and kind neighborly quali- 
ties made him beloved by all who knew him, and even when he 
had. reached the age of fourscore and ten his face would 
brighten as he spoke of the progress of the common schools." 

To persons of the present generation who have ob- 
served that five-sixths of the highest civil offices in this 
country are filled by lawyers, it probably appears exception- 
al that Mr. Ritner, who had no legal training, should have 
attained the governorship of a populous Commonwealth . In 
former days, however, a different rule existed, for greater 
consideration was then given to laymen in the distribution 
of places carrying with them profit and honor. In illus- 
. /^ __tration of this I call your attention to the fact that of our 
l*-p^ earlies^Govemors after the adoption of the constitution of 
1790, Joseph Ritner being the eighth, only one was a mem- 
ber of the bar, namely, the meteoric Thomas McKean ; 
while of the nine Goveraors from 1861 to 1907, only one 
was not a member of the bar, namely, John W. Geary. 
Strange to say the tide again changed in 1907 so far as it 
relates to the office referred to, and of the four Governors 
since that time, all of whom are still living, not one is a 
lawyer. But this recent condition is very exceptional, and 
it is an undoubted fact that formerly knowledge of the law 
was not deemed as important a qualification for high public 
position as it has appeared to be in later years, indeed it is 
doubtful whether ordinarily it was considered a qualifica- 
tion at all. Our government was then in the formative 
stage, and sturdy common sense was relied on as affording 
the surest foundation for a safe development. The three 
immediate predecessors of Governor Ritner sprang from 
German stock, one of them being an ordained minister of 
the German Lutheran church, from which we may infer that 
the Governor's Palatinate descent and inherited traits were 
in a general way helpful to his political advancement. 

Shoulder to shoulder with him during his administra- 
tion stood the radical and eloquent Thaddeus Stevens, who 
entered the house of representatives in 1833 and served 
with little intermission until 1840. His wonderful speech in 
favor of the common school system delivered to the mem- 
bers of that body in April, 1835, most of the senators and 
state officials being present, had electrified his audience, 
rescued the school law from repeal and saved the State 





from the disgi-ace of a return to old conditions . Upon this 
subject, as well as in relation to slavery and secret societies, 
the views of the bold and patriotic Ritner and the brilliant 
Commoner were in perfect accord, and together they worked 
for the establishment of those cardinal doctrines which 
would insure universal freedom and general education. 

Stevens passed over into the great Unknown in August, 
1868, only fourteen months prior to the death of his aged 
friend, and upon his tombstone in an obscure cometery in 
Lancaster is cut an inscription composed by himself, declar- 
ing the principle which he had advocated through a long life 
to be "Equality of Man before his Creator." The same 
words might with propriety be carved above the remains of 
Joseph Ritner, who likewise battled strenuously for a pro- 
tracted period to break down the distinctions created by 
wealth and color . He was endowed with unusual strength 
of mind and body, was honest, industrious and earnest, and 
his well spent life was productive of valuable results of 
which we are now reaping the benefit. His ashes repose 
in a quaint country churchyard at Mount Rock, seven miles 
west of Carlisle, at the side of the turnpike road leading to 
Chambersburg . Concerning the monument which has 
been placed there by the State as a tribute to his public ser- 
vices and worth, it is a pleasure to be able to say — that it is 
of chaste and classic design, perfect in symmetry, construct- 
ed by skilled workmen from materials of the finest quality, 
and destined for ages to -^ome to suitably fulfill the purpose 
of its erection. 



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